Scouler’s Bluebell (Campanula scouleri)

Hamilton Mountain Trail, Columbia Gorge, WA, 6/2015.

This small, unassuming woodland flower does not immediately seem similar to its more common relative, rotundiflora.

For one thing, its blueness is ever so slight; most flowers are nearly white. John Scouler, who was an assistant to David Douglas, had several other plants named after him including a corydalis. Harebells are examples of “perfect” flowers, containing both male and female reproductive parts (sometimes called hermaphroditic). The female part, the pistil, projects far beyond the petals, with the goal of catching pollen from nearby flowers or insects. The male parts, or anthers, can be seen around the base of the pistil. If the flower is pollinated, as below, the pistol remains pointed straight ahead (and darkens). If not, it splits into two or three parts which coil back toward the anthers to self-pollinate, as above, and in the last photo below.